


The Realm of Miracles

by IceLite1011



Series: Kuroko no Basuke Oneshots [8]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Ayakashi, Flashbacks, Light Angst, M/M, Mentioned Generation of Miracles, Minor Kagami Taiga/Kuroko Tetsuya, Spirit World, Spirits, Youkai, influenced heavily by Natsume Yuujinchou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-17 23:48:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7291039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceLite1011/pseuds/IceLite1011
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Ghost</p><p>Taiga never thought that meeting one of them would be special.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Realm of Miracles

**Author's Note:**

> For this fic, I was inspired by "Natsume's Book of Friends" ("Natsume Yuujinchou"). If you're not familiar with the series, it may be a bit confusing at first, but I tried to make it self-explanatory. :)
> 
> Youkai/Ayakashi means ghost or monster, and normal humans are unable to see them.

 Taiga had always been able to see them.

Ever since he was little, he would frantically point them out to his parents, crying “He’s right there! Can’t you see?”, only to be met with confused looks. As he grew older, he began to understand that he was different. He stopped trying to convince his mother that there really  _was_  a horse-headed man sitting at the table. He stopped crouching down on the way to school to talk to a river imp, which to others appeared as if he were talking to thin air. He stopped leaving his leftover lunch on his windowsill, because that only attracted more of them.

For a few months, Taiga was comfortable. The Youkais didn’t approach him as much, and his friends didn’t find him as strange. Then, on one day, it rained.

* * *

 

 _Good thing I brought an umbrella_ , Taiga thought to himself as he hurried down the path. The umbrella didn’t help much when it came to the town’s muddy roads, and he didn’t want to dirty his school trousers. Just as he turned the bend onto the street near his house, he stopped short.

There, standing only a few meters in front of him, was a boy about his age. He was smaller than Taiga, and skinnier. A tattered black and white yukata hung loosely on his slender frame. His head was tilted back, the raindrops sliding down his porcelain cheeks and through his pale blue hair. 

“Hey, you’re gonna catch a cold,” Taiga called out before he could stop himself. The boy was already soaked through, but he didn’t move. Curious, Taiga inched closer. “Hey.  _Hey_. Can you hear me?” Suddenly, the boy’s head snapped towards him, seeming to finally register Taiga’s presence. 

“You can…see me?”

 _Ah, crap._  Taiga thought to himself, instantly realizing that he had accidentally spoken to a Youkai. A white cloth tied around his head covered the creature’s eyes, the kanji character for “shadow” painted in dark blue on the small square of fabric. Taiga tried not to speak to Youkai’s he didn’t know—it just made him seem stranger and sometimes they followed him back home, which was a nuisance. 

“Well, yeah…” Taiga finally said, realizing that the Youkai was still staring at him. “I’ve always been able to see Youkais. I’m just different, I guess.” He laughed uneasily. 

The Youkai’s lips turned up in a little half-smile. “I apologize. I didn’t realize that you were addressing me. I’ve gotten quite used to not being spoken to.” He paused. “You are different, yes, but also remarkable. Especially if you can see me.”

Taiga tilted his head, letting his guard down a bit. “What do you mean? Even if humans can’t see you, can’t the other Youkais?”

The boy looked the other way. There was a long pause before he finally answered, “…not necessarily.”

Before Taiga could interject, there was a loud clap of thunder and suddenly the steady rain got worse, causing rivets of water to pour down his umbrella. The Youkai was still standing in the middle of the road, soaking wet, so without thinking Taiga outstretched his arm, sharing the umbrella with the mysterious boy. Surprised, the boy looked up, a question hanging on his lips. But Taiga simply smiled and gently nudged the boy towards the direction of his house. “C’mon,” he said. “Let’s get you into some dry clothes.”

* * *

 

Half an hour later, the pair was in Taiga’s room, the Youkai sitting politely across from him on the floor as he sipped a hot mug of tea. Taiga watched silently, his eyes tracing the lines of the Youkai’s shoulders swimming in his oversized t-shirt. His head was spinning with questions, but the one at the forefront of his mind spilled out first.

“What’s your name? I’m Taiga Kagami, by the way.” he blurted out. The boy froze, his cup halfway to his mouth, before he gently set it down beside him and faced Taiga, dipping down into a bow.

“My apologies, Kagami-dono. I must’ve seemed terribly rude. I am an inferior Ayakashi; I was not graced with a name. But I have been called Shadow.”

“Shadow…” Taiga repeated. Something didn’t seem right, and it niggled in his gut, but he decided not to pursue it. “Well, if you don’t have a home right now you can stay here. I can bring you leftovers every day, and you can sleep in my room.”

Shadow shook his head. “Thank you very much, but I must decline. I am a failure as an Ayakashi. I do not deserve such kindness and hospitality.”

“A failure? Shadow, what are you saying?” Taiga was starting to grow frantic. In all his 15 years, he had never met a Youkai who considered himself inferior to humans. They were always confident, superior, and at times pushy. Many had camped out in Taiga’s room, regardless of whether he had given them permission. But this Youkai was different. What had he went through? What dark past had he endured?

“Perhaps I should explain,” Shadow murmured, slowly standing up. He looked towards the window, noticing that it had stopped raining. “Please, follow me.” Without another word he exited the room, padding down the stairs and outside. Taiga scrambled up as well, yelling that he would be back by dinner to his mother. 

* * *

 

The two walked in silence, past the familiar shops lining the narrow town roads and the spacious park where Taiga spent many of his childhood days alone. They passed by the elementary school, the middle school, and the high school, finally reaching the border between the town and a large expanse of forest ahead. Taiga halted, growing nervous.

“Are we going in there? Do you know your way around?”

Shadow turned back to look at him, that half-smile on his lips again. “Yes, Kagami-dono. We will be safe. Please trust me.” And so he did, following Shadow into unknown territory.

“Whoa…” Taiga sucked in a breath as they entered a clearing. It was a vast, circular area, free from the tangly trees they had been walking through and mostly covered in lush green grass. Beautiful flowers in various shades of violet dotted the meadow, lightly swaying in the breeze. The area connected to a beach Taiga had never seen before, an expanse of golden sand stretching out into the distance as cerulean waves lapped at the shore. “What is this place?” 

Shadow tilted his head back, gazing at the azure sky. “The Realm of Miracles.”

Somehow the name sounded familiar. It resonated in the far corners of Taiga’s memory, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“I have something to confess to you, Kagami-dono.” Shadow said, his voice almost a whisper. He took a few steps out into the meadow, the wind seeming to still at his presence. The area became eerily silent as Shadow turned back towards Taiga, and began to speak.

“Long ago, there were six nature spirits. They were young, gifted, and very, very powerful. They each represented an element of nature. The Spirit of the Sand, the Spirit of the Forest, the Spirit of the Sea, and the Spirit of the Flowers all resided in this very Realm. I myself was one of them.”

“You were…?” Taiga wondered.

“The Spirit of the Sky. Humans worshipped the others for many generations, but I was often forgotten. I was known as the Phantom Sixth Spirit among the community…like a ghost. But the other Spirits were kind, and included me in their nightly gatherings here. For a while everything was peaceful, and together we protected the town.”

A new thought sparked in Taiga’s mind. “Wait, you were known as the Phantom Sixth Spirit, right? Sand, Forest, Sea, and Flowers…that’s only four. Wouldn’t you be the Fifth?”

The boy visibly stiffened. “There was one more. He was one of the youngest Spirits, but he was the most powerful of us all.”

“And he was the Spirit of…?”

Shadow paused, his tone wavering. “Blood.”

Taiga winced. He had never liked the sight of blood. It reminded him of death. Of tragedy. Of pain.

Shadow continued. “His element may sound evil, but it is thanks to him that blood courses through human veins. He kept everyone in the village healthy, and even if one became ill, he had the power to purify their blood and make one well again. He was a very competent Spirit, and was worshipped by many. One day, however, his mind was taken over.”

Taiga shuddered, the air seeming to drop a few degrees as a chill settled on his skin. “What happened?”

“An evil Spirit suddenly appeared here,” Shadow explained. “No one knows why, but it came at the worst time. Slightly before the evil arrived, things were…tense. The Spirits were starting to gain more and more power from being constantly worshipped by humans, and they were beginning to rebel against their restraints. They wanted absolute freedom to do whatever they pleased, and they were starting to become harder to keep in check. Akashi-kun—that is the name of the Spirit of Blood—grew worried that he would not be able to keep the Spirits in order. His mind was unstable, and the evil Spirit found that weakness.”

“One day, Murasakibara-kun—the Spirit of the Flowers—broke free of the magical barrier that Akashi-kun had put up around the Realm, in an attempt to keep the Spirits under control. And that took its toll on Akashi-kun’s sanity. The Evil Spirit quickly entered his weakened mind, and possessed him. He undid all of the barriers, letting every Spirit free. The Evil remains inside Akashi-kun today, and the other Spirits scattered into separate territories. I don’t know where they are now. It was terrible. I tried to stop Akashi-kun, but…I was cursed instead.”

Taiga gasped at the horrid tale. He couldn’t believe what Shadow—the Spirit of the Sky—had gone through. “What did that Spirit do to you?”

“He took my name away,” Shadow said in a small voice. “And my presence. He cursed me so that I would be invisible to every living being, even to other Ayakashis and my fellow Spirits.”

“That’s…awful.” Taiga tried to imagine Shadow’s situation. Being ignored by everyone, even his friends and family. Being all alone every day, for years on end, cursed to live a long, lonely life. Then, it dawned on him. “Wait, then why can I see you?!”

Shadow stepped closer to him, his chin trembling as his voice started to shake. “I have to apologize to you once more. I lied. There was another Spirit among us, a Seventh Spirit. He was…my partner. Together, we looked over the town, and as long as he was by my side I felt safe and happy, no matter what trials we had to overcome. And the Evil Spirit took him away from me, as punishment. He trapped the Seventh Spirit, sealing his soul into an unbreakable barrier. I did everything in my power to free him, but it was no use.”

Something bothered him. Why did Taiga feel like he’d heard this before? His memory was itching for more, so he listened intently. 

“In secret, my former friend happened to come across the Realm. His name was Ogiwara-kun, and he was a healing Ayakashi. He couldn’t see me, of course, but he sensed the Seventh Spirit’s soul inside the barrier and knew that something was wrong. Somehow, Ogiwara-kun succeeded in salvaging it. He wasn’t powerful enough to bring back the Spirit’s true form, but he managed to transfer the soul into another container…a mortal. A human baby.”

Shadow stepped even closer, so that there was only about a foot of space between them. The cloth around his head prevented Taiga from seeing his eyes, but his tone was desperate. 

“I didn’t want to burden you with this, since it seems that the powerful magic has erased your memory. But…” his voice finally broke. “I needed you.” And he reached out, touching his fingertips to Taiga’s cheek. For a moment, all Taiga could think about was how cold Shadow’s skin was. Suddenly, his mind went into overdrive, almost like a dam breaking. Blurry memories flooded through him.

* * *

 

_He could see everything. He saw Akashi, his appearance unchanged on the outside except for his single, almost blindingly gold eye. There was a blank, childish smile on his face as he stared right at Kagami, a sharp blade in his hand. “Remain there for eternity, Taiga, and feel true defeat. Both you and…” He couldn’t make out the rest._

_“Kagami-kun!” He could hear him, his tone frantic, devastated. “Kagami-kun!”_

_He shouted back, but no voice came out. He was trapped in the barrier, only his eyes functional as he helplessly stared at the approaching figure._

_His clothes were tattered, gashes all over his normally flawless, milky skin. His pale blue hair was matted, with smears of blood in the soft locks._

* * *

 

_“Kagami…is that you in there?” A serious face slowly materialized in front of him, slightly pixelated due to the spell binding his soul. He recognized the kind brown eyes and confident voice._

_Ogiwara…?_

_The Ayrakashi gazed hard at him, although all he could see was most likely the crystal’s outside appearance. “I’m going to free you, Kagami. I don’t know if I can, but I’ll try. I’ll most likely end up having to transfer your soul to another container. But I’ll make it work. He needs you…” he sounded distressed. “I haven’t seen him around anymore…I can sense him, sometimes…but I can tell that you’re the only one that can save him. Please, Kagami…” And with that, he started to mumble a chant, clasping his hands together and squeezing his eyes shut in concentration._

_Suddenly, the crystal began to shatter, light flooding Kagami’s eyes as he felt strangely light. Slowly, he felt his consciousness slipping away as Ogiwara’s spell continued to resonate within his ears._

* * *

 

Kagami snapped back to the present, his eyes wide with realization. All of a sudden, it felt as if he were different, more mature. He remembered everyone; he recalled the time he had spent laughing with each Spirit years ago. 

Kise, with his bright, golden eyes, laughing as he teasingly threw handfuls of sand at Taiga.

Midorima, his usually grumpy face serene as he and the trees basked in the soft evening sun.

Aomine, challenging him to yet another race as he wove in and out of roaring cobalt waves.

Murasakibara, lazily chewing on sweets as he napped among the meadow’s tiny lavenders. 

And Akashi, scolding him for being too loud, even though his gentle ruby eyes were smiling.

He remembered that fateful day, when the Akashi standing in front of him was no longer his friend. A stranger. He could feel the fear, the tension in the air as each Spirit slowly abandoned the realm. 

But the most vivid memories weren’t with any of the other Spirits. 

 

“You are the Seventh Spirit, the Spirit of the Sun. You’re finally awake…” The small hand withdrew from his face, reaching to untie the cloth covering his eyes. It was like the world stopped when his eyes—brighter and bluer than the sky on a clear summer day—were revealed.

“Kagami-kun.”

Kagami reached out, crushing him in a hug. Immediately, he felt slender arms wrap around his shoulders, a small sob escaping into the crook of his neck. Kagami felt like he was finally whole again as he held his partner, his best friend, his everything, in his arms.

“Kuroko…I missed you so much.” He whispered into his ear, overwhelmed with emotion as he reluctantly released his partner to gaze into azure eyes.

“I missed you too,” Kuroko smiled, his eyes filled with tears, as the Sun in the background seemed to shine brighter than it ever had before. Kuroko’s expression turned serious.

“Kagami-kun,” he murmured, grasping Kagami’s hands. This time, his fingers felt warm. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you back. But there will be difficult times ahead. The Spirits, no matter how far away they are now, will sense that you have awakened. And in your weakened mortal form, you will surely be an easy target, especially for Akashi-kun.” He frowned, his eyes full of worry. “I will do everything in my power to protect you.”

Kagami squeezed Kuroko’s hands back, determined to pull through the trials to come. “We’ll fight back. I’ll protect you too, no matter how hard it is. Let’s show them what we can do.”

Kuroko smiled. “Welcome home, Kagami-kun.”


End file.
